


Falling Again

by XxPurpleStars3xx



Category: Full House (US)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6122106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxPurpleStars3xx/pseuds/XxPurpleStars3xx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during "Fuller House". Steve and D.J. haven't seen each other since D.J.'s Prom Night. They suddenly run into each other in a grocery store months after D.J.'s husband dies. Will the sparks be too much for them and will their love be rekinkled?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Run-In

**Author's Note:**

> VERY IMPORTANT: This story was written last year before it premiered. So the boys' names are different and D.J. was pregnant when the series started. The story was taken from what info was given in JULY 2015.

D.J. stood in the dairy aisle while Max and J.D. were at school. Then, she spotted _him_ while looking down the aisle to see where her favorite type of milk was.

 

 _Look away, look away, look away_ , she told herself. But it couldn’t be helped, because as she was just about to turn the cart around, she heard her name being called out in that voice she hadn’t heard in so long.

 

The voice that had been missing from her ears for years. The voice that had haunted her dreams after their first break up, after prom, and haunting her now in the dairy aisle. She turned around with a forced smile on her face and looked at the strong man that she had loved all those years ago.

 

Steve Hale stood in front of her, smiling as hugely as he could.

 

“D.J. Tanner?” he asked.

 

“It’s me,” D.J. answered.

 

“Wow, it’s been—it’s been a long time.”

 

D.J. smiled, happy that he was as nervous as she was.

 

“Yes, it has.”

 

“How’ve you been?”

 

“Good,” D.J. lied. They stood silent, just looking at how each of the other had changed until D.J. noticed the amount of food in his cart. “Big party at you and your wife’s house?”

 

“No, uh…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “Arielle died about four years ago. It’s just me and Jasmine, but she eats as much as me, so this is what it’s like every week.”

 

“I’m sorry. I just lost Tommy a few months ago. Now it’s me, J.D., Max, Steph, Kimmy, Ramona and whoever this person in my stomach is.”

 

“Sorry,” he said. “So, Steph and Kimmy moved in? And Kimmy has a _daughter_?”

 

Donna Jo laughed and nodded, loving how easy it was to be this way with Steve again. He was still the tall, athletic, hungry boy she had fallen in love with decades ago.

 

“Um, I gotta pick up Jesse from school in an hour, but I’d love to catch up and talk more,” DJ said.

 

“Y-Yeah, that’d be great,” Steve agreed.

 

“Great, uh, here’s my number.”

 

D.J. had a small moment of déjà vu as she wrote her number on Steve’s arm with a Sharpie. She had done this fifteen years ago (almost to the day), to Tommy. She stopped for a moment, but finished the three remaining numbers.

 

“Great. I’m going to checkout, but I’ll talk to you later,” Steve said, and waved goodbye.

 

D.J. waved back and thought about what had just happened. She had seen Steve again. She looked back and smiled as the man was playing with his bread, passing it back and forth in each hand, while waiting at the checkout line and felt a flutter in her heart.

 

It had been five months since Tommy had passed. She had neither taken off her wedding ring nor had she thrown away Tommy’s old work shirts.

 

She sighed and got her milk, getting into another checkout line. She didn’t know what meeting Steve meant, but if she knew one thing, she knew she needed to talk to Kimmy and Stephanie… _tonight_.


	2. Discussing Steve

As soon as dinner was over, D.J. Fuller dragged her sister and best friend up to her bedroom while their children did their homework in the dining room, connected to the kitchen.

 

“Ow, Deej, you’re hurting my arm,” Stephanie Tanner said, shooting a glare at her older sister.

 

“Yeah, what’s the hullabaloo?” Kimmy Gibbler asked.

 

“Sit,” D.J. said, making the two girls sit on the king size bed, while she paced back and forth, trying to make a sentence about what happened in the grocery store today.

 

“Deej, you’re scaring me. What happened at the store?” Steph said.

 

“I saw Steve,” D.J. blurted out.

 

Stephanie and Kimmy were speechless.

 

“Well, if you were to run into him of all places, of course it would be a grocery store,” Kimmy joked.

 

“Not the time, Gibbler,” Stephanie said. “What happened?”

 

“Well,” D.J. started, “we talked a little about our family. He’s widowed with a daughter. We’re going to talk some more sometime.”

 

Stephanie got up from the bed and slowly walked over to her frantic sister.

 

“D.J., it’s fine. It means nothing,” she comforted.

 

“But what if it does?” D.J. asked.

 

“What would it mean?”

 

“I don’t know, but it means something!”

 

“MOM! SOME GUY NAMED STEVE HALE IS ON THE PHONE FOR YOU!” Max yelled.

 

The oldest Tanner looked at her sister and best friend as ice water seemed to run down her back.

 

He could’ve at least waited a day.

 

“Okay!” D.J. yelled back. “One minute!”

 

“D.J., do you _want_ it to mean something?” Kimmy’s voice made her think.

 

Did D.J. _want_ it to mean something? Surely, she was just recently widowed, seven months pregnant and two kids. She didn’t know what she wanted right now. She didn’t want another man in her life right now. Maybe as a friend, not a lover.

 

Plus, she knew the Steve from twenty years ago. It didn’t necessarily mean he was the same Steve now. The thought calmed her a bit as she went downstairs and got the phone from her youngest son, who went and turned on his PS4.

 

“Hi, it’s D.J.,” D.J. said.

 

“It’s Steve,” Steve responded.

 

“Hi.”

 

“So, I was, uh, wondering if you wanted to have coffee sometime. Maybe tomorrow?”

 

“Sure, what time do you get off of work?”

 

“I have wrestling practice until five, but I can see if the assistant coach can just take over and we can do it around four.”

 

“What exactly is your job?” D.J. asked. If he was still the same Steve he’d be doing something with wrestling.

 

“Wrestling coach at a local high school,” Steve answered.

 

“Oh, okay. I don’t have to work tomorrow so four sounds good to me.”

 

“Great. I gotta go, Jasmine wants me to watch _Bachelorette_ with her.”

 

There was a faint yelling for Steve in the background, which D.J. assumed was Jasmine.

 

“Have fun with that. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Thanks,” Steve said. “And Deej?”

 

Her heart fluttered when he said that. And suddenly, all those memories of their days together came back. The first time they met, their first Prom, their Anniversary, the dates and kisses and cute things…D.J.’s Prom, the last time they saw each other, promising to keep in touch, but never did.

 

“Yeah?” she wondered aloud.

 

“It was great to bump into you.”

 

D.J. smiled at the words.

 

“You too. See you tomorrow,” she said and hung up.

 

She turned around to see Stephanie and Kimmy. Both had their arms crossed and both had curious glances on their faces.

 

“Deej?” Kimmy asked.

 

“Nothing’s going to come of it,” she answered in her best friend.

 

“Mom, can I call Dad?” Ramona asked, always one to interrupt a conversation, wanting to call her father.

 

“Dude, can’t you see we’re having a conversation?” Kimmy said to her daughter.

 

“You don’t need the phone.”

 

D.J. handed the phone to Ramona, who took it out of the living room and into the kitchen. D.J. sat on the couch and the other two sat on either side of her.

 

“He called me ‘Deej’,” she said. Stephanie and Kimmy looked at each other in confusion. Why was that important? “He called me that and everything came rushing forward. But I’m not ready to date. He’s just going to be a friend.”

 

“That’s perfectly fine,” Stephanie said, comforting her sister.

 

“I think I’m going to head to bed early,” D.J. said, even though it was seven o’clock.

 

Kimmy was just about to point out the time when Stephanie stopped her. D.J. was all rattled up from the day, she didn’t need someone to tell her it was earlier than it was.

 

“Goodnight,” she said instead.

 

D.J. went upstairs and looked into Jesse Daniels’ room, seeing the instruments that Uncle Jesse had had. She saw the soccer ball, waiting to be taken outside to the left while he was playing the guitar on his bed.

 

“Hi,” she said, coming into the room.

 

“Hi,” J.D. said as he looked up from the “G” chord he currently had his fingers set up for. “What’s up?”

 

“Just seeing how you’re doing. I know it’s been tough, especially with the baby coming soon.”

 

“Yeah. I’m not looking forward to giving my room up.”

 

D.J. smiled as her oldest went back to his guitar.

 

“Jesse’s coming soon.”

 

“I know. He texted me earlier today. Aunt Stephanie has a recording demo coming up and he wants to be there for her.”

 

“Okay. I’m headed to bed for the night. It’s been a long day. Come in if you need anything, all right?”

 

J.D. was confused about why his mother was going to bed so early, but he didn’t question it. He nodded and went back to playing the tune he had been playing before his mother had come in. He watched her walk across the hall into her own room before shutting his own door.

 

D.J. opened Tommy’s closet and saw the shirts in desperate need of a wash. She saw the ties and shoes that had not been worn for months. She took a look at her wedding ring and tears sprung to her eyes. Had it only been five months? It felt so much longer than that. She sobbed on her bed and looked down at her very prominent stomach.

 

Her growing child was the last living piece she had of him. She laid on her back and looked at the ceiling, willing herself to sleep, to let this horrible day pass.

 

Steve had not been on her mind for years. Now, seeing him again gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She didn’t need him right now. She didn’t need the conflicting feelings that she knew would come if she continued to stay around him for very long. Soon, those feelings of love from twenty years ago would come back, and if it was tomorrow or years from now, she didn’t know if she could handle it.

 

She didn’t want to move on from Tommy, and that’s why she kept her wedding ring on. Stephanie and Kimmy knew that she would fall for someone sooner or later, but she wanted to prove them wrong.

 

“I miss you,” she whispered into one of the pillows that was what used to be his side of the bed. “I miss you so much.”

 

She didn’t know what seeing Steve meant, but she knew that whether she liked it or not, she knew that things were never going to be the same.


	3. Coffee

She had changed her outfit three times.

“It’s nothing. It’s coffee,” she said after every time she threw a new outfit onto the bed. “Stop.”

“Deej, it’s coffee. Jeese, it’s not a date,” Stephanie said.

“It’s Steve.”

“He’s seen you in worse than that ugly yellow dress.”

D.J. rolled her eyes at her younger sister and took off the yellow sundress. She opened her closet and pulled out a navy blue top, dark pants and a pair of black flats. She took a look in the mirror and checked herself.

“Good,” she whispered to herself and turned around to see Kimmy standing in the doorway of her bedroom. “Kimmy!”

“For someone who says he’s just a friend you’re sure spending a lot of time on finding an outfit for a coffee date,” Kimmy noted.

“Not a date,” D.J. corrected.

Kimmy sat D.J. down on her bed and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Tell me what’s going on. Come on, Deej, I’m your best friend.”

D.J. took a deep breath and sighed, letting her thoughts collect in her head and to try to find some words to convey how she was feeling: nervous, excited, scared.

“I know it’s not a date. It’s just…seeing Steve after so long is scary. I’m dressing like I’m going on a date with him because that’s all I’ve ever known,” she finally said.

“Deej, it’s scary, but it’ll be okay. Listen, how about we go to the coffee shop together and I won’t leave until I’m sure you’re okay,” Kimmy offered.

D.J. smiled and nodded. They got up and walked out the door. Ramona was going over to a friend’s, and the boys were being picked up by Stephanie.

When they walked down the street and saw Steve already sitting there, sipping a latte, D.J. hid behind Kimmy, like a little girl afraid of a stranger.

“Kimmy!” Steve’s voice rang through the street, his hand waving Kimmy over to his table.

“Hiya, hot stuff,” she said.

“You haven’t changed.” Steve smiled. He leaned around Kimmy. “D.J., I know you’re behind Kimmy.”

D.J.—embarrassed—got out from behind Kimmy and muttered a “hi”. Steve and D.J. stared at each other, neither saying a word, and Kimmy felt very awkward. Kimmy stared back and forth and the two not saying anything.

“Sexual tension still there,” she murmured under her breath. Unfortunately, D.J. heard it and gave her a death glare. “Okay, well, I gotta go home and clean. Bye!”

“You do know she’s going to hide behind that bush right there, don’t you?” D.J. asked after Kimmy had left.

“Yep,” Steve said. There was silence between the two. “Do you want anything?”

“Um, just coffee, decaf.”

Steve nodded and got up to give the order to the barista at Starbucks. Just then, one of J.D.’s friend’s mom, Irene, noticed D.J. and walked across the street.

“D.J.?” Irene asked.

D.J. turned around to see one of her friends.

“Irene, hi,” she responded.

“You here alone?”

“No, getting coffee with a friend.”

Steve came back with the coffee and sat down. He noticed the stranger staring at him with her mouth open.

“Hello…?” he said.

Irene turned to D.J. and said, “Honey, if he’s just a friend I’ll take him as more.”

D.J. turned bright red and kept her head down. Steve laughed.

“Well, it was nice to see you again, Irene. Say hi to your husband, Jas, for me,” D.J. said, making Irene turn bright red.

“Bye,” she muttered and left.

Steve handed Donna Jo her coffee and sat back with his own drink. He watched as Irene left and silently laughed.

“Don’t worry,” Steve reassured, “it’s happened before.”

“Sure it has,” D.J. said. “So, you coach wrestling at the local high school.”

“Yeah, it’s fun, teaching kids the sport I love. What about you?”

“Veterinarian. It’s really nice helping people’s pets.”

“Sure.”

There was silence as each took a few sips of their respective drinks. It was their usual silence, silence that did not need to be filled with words about their lives, about their late spouses and their children, about how Kimmy and Stephanie now lived with D.J., or about anything else. They loved it.

“How was Bachelorette?” D.J. inquired in a teasing voice.

Steve groaned and put his head down in his arms.

“Don’t. Mention. It,” he growled and D.J. laughed. “She loved it. Her least favorite guy went home and she screamed with happiness when the dude she did like got a rose.”

“Don’t worry, you probably won’t have to see it again.”

“Hopefully. I mean, of course I love Jasmine, but we don’t exactly have the same taste in shows.”

“She’s more Kardashians you’re more Sports Center?” D.J. guessed.

“You always knew me so well,” Steve blurted and then immediately wanted to take back the words.

D.J. was shocked. They had dated for a long time and she was bound to know him well, but that was a guess. Maybe he hadn’t changed. Maybe he was the same old Steve. D.J. didn’t know if she wanted that. She could end up falling back in love with Steve and she couldn’t let that happen. She wanted a friend. It was too soon for her to be falling in love with another guy, especially if it was her ex-boyfriend.

D.J. was just about to say something when a “Mom!” was heard. She turned around to see a smiling Max with a running Stephanie behind him.

“Hi,” Max said, smiling at his mother.

“He wanted hot chocolate and we didn’t have any in the house, so I told him I’d get him some at the coffee shop, but there was no babysitter and—“ Stephanie explained.

“Steph, it’s fine,” D.J. interrupted.

Stephanie nodded and then took a look at Steve. She hadn’t seem him in a while, but he still looked the same from twenty years ago. No beard, big muscles, and shining eyes.

“Hi,” Stephanie said.

“Hello again, Stephanie,” Steve said.

“Mom, who’s this?” Max asked, looking at Steve.

“Honey,” D.J. said to her six-year-old, “this is Steve. He’s an old friend of Mommy’s.”

“Hi,” Max said, shaking Steve’s hand. “I’m Max, I’m six and I’m Mommy’s son.”

“Pleasure, Max,” Steve said, shaking the boy’s hand.

“Aunt Stephanie, let’s get that hot chocolate.”

Stephanie nodded and took her nephew inside the shop. She threw an apologetic look back at her sister.

“He seems nice,” Steve said.

“He’s exactly like his grandfather. Keeps his room as clean as can be,” D.J. said.

“Oh boy.”

D.J. nodded and sighed.

“When they get together…,” she said.

“I bet,” Steve said. “Other son like that?”

“Opposite. Apparently he has three girlfriends. He’s like Jesse.”

“Ah. So, you have one like Jesse and one like your father. Makes for an interesting house.”

“Then you have Kimmy and Ramona, her daughter, who’s a fireball.”

“A more interesting house.”

“Definitely.”

They fell into another comfortable silence until Stephanie and Max came out with two cups of hot chocolate.

“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Max asked.

D.J. looked at her watch, 4:45. It was almost time for her to make dinner. She looked at Stephanie.

“Steph, can you put some spaghetti on the stove. I’ll be there soon,” she instructed.

“Okay,” Steph said and led Max away.

“Looks like you have to go,” Steve said with a sadness in his voice. D.J. couldn’t blame him. She was having a great time, too. “I should go, too. Ordering Chinese for dinner.”

“Yum,” D.J. said as they both got up and threw away their finished latte and coffee.

“I had a great time today seeing you.”

“Me too. Do it again soon?” The words surprised not only her but Steve. But that’s what friends do, right? They agree to see each other.

“Yeah, totally.”

Steve hugged D.J. and then pulled a few inches away. They looked into each other’s eyes, and, was it D.J.’s imagination or were they moving closer? Steve stopped and looked away, like a trance had been broken. He moved away, not looking at D.J. anymore.

“Bye, I’ll call you soon,” Steve called and left.

D.J. walked the few blocks home, thinking about the hug and almost-kiss. She had wanted it to happen and not wanted it to happen at the same time. She walked quickly home the rest of the way and almost slammed through the front door.

“Whoa, what’s the matter?” Kimmy asked. Normally in a situation like this she would ask, “Where’s the fire?” but Tommy was a firefighter, and with J.D. in the room, she didn’t think it was a great idea. She took a look at D.J.’s flushed face. “D.J.?”

“J.D., room. Now,” D.J. instructed her oldest.

“Mom—“ J.D. protested.

“No, Kimmy, Steph and I need to talk alone.”

J.D. trudged up to his room while Steph came out of the kitchen, hearing her name. Kimmy and Stephanie helped D.J. sit down with her large stomach.

“Steve and I almost kissed,” she said.

Stephanie and Kimmy’s mouths dropped in astonishment.

“It was just supposed to be coffee and you almost kissed!” Stephanie said.

“I know,” D.J. said. “Just friends won’t turn out so well.”

“D.J., you used to date Steve. Friends will take time. You started out with coffee, and maybe next you’ll do something else. Don’t worry.”

“Deej, things will be just fine. Give it time,” Kimmy said.

“Yeah, well, coffee was going so well until we hugged and then looked into each other’s eyes,” D.J. said. “I don’t want to fall in love again. Steve was the past and I want to move on from that. I’m not going to fall in love with Steve again.”

Stephanie and Kimmy looked at each other, knowing that as try as D.J. might, she would always be in love with Steve.

What none of them knew was that a teenager sat on the landing of the second floor stairs, angry, hurt and heartbroken that his mother would betray his father like that by falling in love with another man.


	4. Talking and Naming

D.J. knocked on her son’s door, ready to tell him that dinner was ready when she heard a sob coming from the other side of the door.

“J.D.?” she asked.

“Go away!” J.D. shouted back.

D.J. sighed and opened the door, seeing her son look at the old photograph of him and his dad at the county fair three years ago.

“What’s wrong?” she said.

“You said you and Steve almost kissed! What about Dad?”

D.J. felt a sense of déjà vu. Stephanie and she had had this conversation before with their Dad when he wanted to start dating again. Except…this conversation would be a little different.

“’Almost’ is the key word here. I still love your father and nothing’s going to take away from that. I’ve known Steve since high school. We used to date and kiss and everything that couples do, but we’re not going to, now. That was the past. No one could take your father’s place in my heart.”

“Then why’d you almost kiss him?”

“It wasn’t planned, it just happened. We didn’t kiss and it won’t happen again. Steve’s just going to be a friend from now on.”

“But…what if you do fall in love with him and get married?”

“Your father and I one night a few months after Max was born had a talk. It was a talk about if something happened to one of us. And both of us said we’d want the other to find someone to spend the rest of their lives with. But, I don’t want to fall in love again. Your father was it,” D.J. explained. “And, you know, if I change my mind you’ll be the first to know.”

D.J. was just about to leave when J.D. said one more thing, “Is…is Steve a good guy?”

D.J. smiled at her son.

“One of the best,” she answered. “Dinner’s almost ready, so how about you come down?”

J.D. followed his mother downstairs. D.J. went and stood by Stephanie and Kimmy.

“He heard us talking,” she said.

“Is he now upset like we were when Dad started dating again?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah. But then I told him I don’t want to fall in love again. I don’t know if he believed me or not that Tommy was it.”

“Tommy would want you to be happy. He’d want you to date,” Kimmy said.

“We had that awkward ex’s talk. I’m sure if he was to approve of anyone dating me, it’d be Steve. He seemed to think he was a good guy,” D.J. said.

“It’s like he pushed both of you to go to the store and see each other again,” Kimmy joked and brought the spaghetti to the table.

D.J. chuckled at the idea, obviously thinking it was one of the stupidest things she ever thought could happen.

Yeah right, she thought to herself as she served herself some spaghetti.

She looked down at her stomach and immediately knew what she wanted to name her son. Timothy Junior. That would be his name. His legacy should be named with his last child.

“Mom?” Max asked, bring D.J. out of her thoughts as she stared at her spaghetti, not eating it. “Everything okay?”

“Perfect.” D.J. smiled. “I just thought of the perfect name for the baby. Timothy Junior.”

The family around her smiled. They all thought it was a great idea.

“Tommy would like that,” Kimmy said.

“I think it’s great,” Max said.

D.J. looked at Jesse.

“Wonderful,” he responded.

“I love it, too,” Stephanie said.

“I’m sure that Ramona’ll love it, too,” Kimmy said of her daughter, who wasn’t here because she was having dinner at a friend’s house.

“Good, now eat some of my delicious spaghetti.”

The family laughed and ate. Afterwards, the family went out to Oberweiss where they ran into Steve and Jasmine.


	5. Oberweiss

"Oh, uh, hey," Steve greeted, a little bit nervous about their first meeting after their almost-kiss.

"Dad?" a brown-haired, green eyed girl asked her father. "Is this the girl who you—"

"Is an old friend?" Steve cut off his daughter, licking his strawberry ice cream, very nervously. "Yeah."

Jasmine just continued staring at the D.J., unaware of the history that had gone on between the two of them twenty years ago. All she knew was her father was falling in love with a woman who he had gone out with today.

"Mom, is this Steve?" J.D. asked his mom, seeing the smile that lit up her whole face as she looked at D.J..

"Oh, right, you two haven't met yet," D.J. said. "Steve, this is Jesse Daniels, or J.D., and J.D., this is Steve."

"Ah, after Uncle Jesse, eh? Pleasure to meet, ya," Steve said and held out his hand.

Jesse just stared at the man in front of him. Kimmy, Stephanie, Max, D.J. and Jasmine were watching the exchange. None were more nervous than D.J., who was really hoping that if she were to fall in love with Steve again, her oldest would accept it.

"You too," J.D. said and there was an audible sigh from everyone in the room.

"You know, Deej, I was thinking that…maybe—"

"Yes," D.J. said, cutting Steve off.

"Y-Yes?" Steve asked in wonderment.

"Deej, you didn't even hear the whole question," Stephanie said. "You don't even know what you're agreeing to!"

"Yeah, D.J., you could be agreeing to a date," Kimmy whispered to her best friend.

D.J. then got nervous. Why'd she say yes so quickly? She knew the answer: she was falling back in love with him and falling fast. But she couldn't let that happen. She didn't want to date anyone ever again though…did she?

She looked at Steve and took him outside of the shop. Though she could tell her family and friends with Jasmine were looking through the window, trying to listen and see what was going on.

"What was I immediately agreeing to?" D.J. asked. "Please tell me it wasn't a date."

"It wasn't," Steve said. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to go see a movie or something. Not a date. Deej, would I do that to you after only seeing each other for the past two days? And knowing it's only been five months?"

D.J.'s face was now red. This Steve was exactly like the one she had known in high school. She should've known better than to assume it was immediately a date. It was just…that almost-kiss. Even now just thinking about it made her wish their lips had met and gave her a million butterflies in her stomach.

"It's just—" D.J. started.

"How we almost kissed?" Steve continued. "Yeah, I know. We just got caught up, didn't we?"

D.J. nodded and smiled, looking into the eyes she hadn't seen in so many years. Now, she was wishing it was a date. Didn't Tommy want her to be happy? He said as much years ago. But it was too soon to be thinking about going on a date, along with worrying about Timothy Junior being born in two months.

"But, D.J., I've got to tell you something," Steve said. "Ever since we've gotten to see each other the past two days, I've fallen back in love with you. And I know it's way too soon, and you're thinking about other things, but I would really like to go on a date with you when you feel ready."

D.J. knew what her favorite tv show characters would do after that sentence. They'd immediately feel ready to date again, but she wasn't.

"I've actually felt the same way," she said, making her ex-boyfriend smile. "I'm falling back in love with you, and it's scary and it's wonderful. When I'm ready and after Timothy Junior is born, I'll take you up on that offer. But for now, I just want to be friends."

"Friends would be nice," Steve admitted.

Steve and D.J. smiled at each other. Stephanie and Kimmy glanced at each other. They knew her 'not falling in love' plan would fail. Jasmine was happy that her father found the woman that he had been in love with since before her parents had been together. Max didn't exactly know what was going on, all he knew was that his mother was smiling.

But J.D. took it the hardest when his mother agreed to a date with the man he had only known for less than five minutes. From D.J. he had learned Steve was a good man, but he didn't want her dating anyone, even if it was years after his dad died. He didn't run out of the ice cream shop. He didn't cry or do anything that would signal his heart was breaking, but it was. But if it his mom was happy, he could be happy, too.

And after grabbing ice cream with Steve and Jasmine and talking about life and getting to know each other, the Fuller/Tanner/Gibbler household decided to leave, going back to their house.

Everyone easily fell asleep, getting ready for jobs and school tomorrow, but D.J. couldn't sleep. It wasn't just the backaches of pregnancy, but the warm feelings she got from Steve thinking about him. From thinking about that promise and of falling in love again. She felt horrible because even though she and Tommy agreed they'd want the other one to find someone for the rest of their lives, she felt glad that she had found Steve again.

This is what Dad must've felt when he took off his wedding ring, she thought, remembering the day where Danny was on that triple date and her and Steph had lost his wedding ring.

And much like when D.J. had been falling in love with Tommy when they had first started going on, Steve was the last thing on her mind when she fell asleep, thinking about the promise of the date that would happen in its own time.


	6. Movie Night

She was eight months pregnant a week later when D.J. and Steve saw the movie. They didn't go out, mostly because all D.J. wanted to do was stay in bed and not go out. So, for the night to be better, they stayed in and kicked everybody out of the house.

"We'll give everybody money for pizza and dessert and stuff," Steve said to the family as D.J. sat on the couch in the living room ready for the movie to start.

"No, I'll stay here," J.D. said, having plans to spy on D.J. and Steve.

Stephanie looked at her nephew and pulled him into the kitchen next door. She sat him down on a seat and pulled up one to him.

"You're coming with us," Stephanie said.

"Nah, I'm not hungry," J.D. said, although his stomach gave him away by rumbling. Stephanie gave Jesse an "Oh really?" look. J.D. just sighed and admitted the truth. "I don't want Mom to be here with Steve alone. What happens if they kiss?"

"Didn't you have this talk with your mom?"

"Yeah, but she didn't tell me. She said she'd tell me if she ever felt like dating him. She said he was just a friend!"

"He is just a friend."

"For now," J.D. said. "You heard what they said last week."

Stephanie sighed herself. She had heard what they said.

"I know it's tough. I felt the same way when Grandpa started dating after my mom died. D.J.'s not trying to hurt you. She's just trying to be happy during this rough time. This first few months are the hardest," she said.

J.D. nodded.

"I'm gonna say goodbye to Mom. We better be going if we wanna get a good table," he said and went out into the living room. He went up to D.J.. "Bye, Mom. Have fun."

D.J. smiled.

"Bye, J, I'll see you when you get back from dinner," she said, and the gang left.

"So, what movie we seeing?" Steve asked once the door slammed shut.

"I'm thinking Jurassic Park marathon."

"Marathon it is, then," Steve said, ordering the movie on TV. "I'll start making the popcorn."

"Sounds good."

D.J. put her hand on her stomach as T.J. kicked. She smiled and a few minutes later, Steve came back out of the kitchen with a big bowl of popcorn.

"Can I have some watermelon?" Donna Jo asked.

"Ah, I know those cravings," Steve said. "But see, you have no watermelon."

"Pickles with peanut butter?"

"My popcorn not good enough?"

"I haven't even eaten it!"

"Then try it. Some of the best popcorn I've ever made."

D.J. smiled and took a handful of popcorn just as the first movie started.

"This is great," D.J. said. "I'll skip the watermelon for right now."

Steve laughed as they continued watching the movie. There was one point—that neither one of them would ever forget for the rest of the night—where they both put their hands into the popcorn bowl and their hands touched, making electricity shoot through their bodies. They jumped away from each other.

"So, uh, how are you liking the movie?" Steve said, trying to make the moment less awkward.

"It's…it's good," D.J. said. But to be completely honest, she wasn't really paying attention to the movie. She was paying more attention to the fact that Steve had been sitting next to her for the past two hours and making her feel things she hadn't felt in fifteen years, rather than paying attention to a park being run by dinosaurs. "I, uh, like it."

"Not as much as Dirty Dancing, right? Are you still crazy for Swayze?"

D.J. laughed and that took a little bit of the edge off. They were just friends…until D.J. felt it was right to start dating again.

"You still know me so well."

"You haven't changed one bit," Steve said. "You still love animals, you still love ice cream and you still hate cleaning the house. Don't think when I used the bathroom I didn't see some grout."

"Dad still comes over sometimes and cleans," D.J. admitted.

Steve smiled and looked into D.J.'s eyes, making D.J. do the same. They just stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. Steve put a hand under D.J.'s chin and brought her face closer to his. His eyes asked a question, making sure she was okay with it.

A few seconds later, their lips met in a sweet kiss. In a beautiful, amazing kiss, making each of their stomach's turn. And two minutes later, the door opened, making D.J. and Steve—unwillingly—break away.

"Hey, how was dinner?" D.J. asked, the picture of calm, cool and collected, which was better than Steve was doing. The poor boy was sweating.

"Hey—hey," he said.

Stephanie and Kimmy glanced at each other and smiled, knowing what the other was thinking.

"Something wrong?" Max asked.

"Nothing," D.J. said.

"Ramona, all I'm saying is that Jessica's hot," J.D. said, fighting with Ramona, while walking in, about the new girl at school.

"Says the boy who has three girlfriends and is looking at another girl," Ramona shot back.

"Well—" J.D. stopped talking when he noticed something was wrong. "Mom?"

D.J. looked at Steve and said, "I think it's time that you picked up Jasmine, right?"

"Yeah, I think that's best," Steve agreed. He got up very quickly. He went in to hug D.J. but remembered their kiss and just smiled at her instead. "Um, I'll—I'll see you later."

"Bye," D.J. said as Steve raced out of the door. Her family expectantly looked at her as the door closed. She crossed her arms. "Nothing happened."

And while the kids chose to accept the statement, the adults were not. The kids were sent to their rooms. The Tanner girls and Kimmy stood in D.J.'s room with the door locked, so no one could come in.

"So," Stephanie asked, after locking D.J.'s door, "what happened?"

"We were just watching the movie," D.J. admitted. "Jurassic Park was playing and we both put our hands in the popcorn…we felt that electricity that we haven't had in years. And then we were just looking over at each other and he grabbed my chin…" D.J. sighed. "And he kissed me."

Stephanie's and Kimmy's mouths dropped at the declaration of a kiss.

"Did you want him to kiss you?" Kimmy asked.

D.J. didn't know the answer.

"He kissed me and it felt right," D.J. said, sitting down on the bed.

"Deej, you said you were falling back in love with him. You can't help it," Stephanie said, sitting next to her older sister.

"I told him after the baby was born and after a little more time I'd go out on a date with him."

"How long is a little?"

D.J. didn't know what that answer was. Tears filled her eyes as she cried.

"When I'm ready? I don't know," she cried. "I promised I'd never find anyone else after Tommy. I still have his shirts and everything he wore. I still have my wedding ring on. I'm not ready to move on!"

"Then don't," Kimmy said. "You don't have to be with him because you kissed him. You told him you guys were just friends."

"But I told him I was falling back in love with him."

"Falling. You're not back in love with him yet," Stephanie said.

"I shouldn't have kissed him. I'm really stupid."

"You're not stupid. You just had a moment of weakness. It's bound to happen."

"A really great moment of weakness."

"D.J., do you think that you'll fall completely in love with Steve again?"

D.J. thought about it for a few moments. Could she? The answer was wholeheartedly yes. She could fall back in love with him. In fact, she already was.

"It doesn't matter if I will or won't. I promised him a date in a few months," she said.

"Steve's an understanding guy," Stephanie said. "You said yourself his wife died so he probably went through the same thing with Jasmine."

"On the bright side, your grocery bill won't be higher because he won't be over here all the time eating your food," Kimmy noted.

D.J. didn't think that was a negative. Having Steve in the house was perfect. It felt right. Kissing him and being with him felt right. She fiddled with her wedding ring—a ring she hadn't taken off in fifteen years. Stephanie and Kimmy watched her fiddle with it.

"D.J., if you don't want to fall in love with Steve, you don't have to," Steph said.

"Easier said than done," D.J. said, thinking about that kiss again.

"It's going to be fine." Kimmy put her arm around her lifelong best friend. "Worst comes to worst you're best friends."

D.J. huffed and nodded. She fell back onto her bed, looking up at her wedding ring.

"At least Uncle Jesse's coming Sunday. It'll take your mind off things," Stephanie said, talking about their family member that would come in two days.

"Yeah, yeah," D.J. said, hoping it was true. "I'm tired. I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight."

"Night," the two women called as they unlocked the door and closed it, going to their own rooms in the house.

D.J. sighed and crawled into her bed, not caring that she still had on her day clothes. She was too tired in body and mind to care about her clothes right then.

She looked at the picture of Tommy she had on her nightstand and whispered an, "I love you" before falling asleep.


	7. Uncle Jesse's Talk

Uncle Jesse was coming in two hours, and even though the house was spotless and everybody's rooms were clean, D.J. still wasn't ready for her uncle.

There was a ring on her cell phone and she opened it up to see Steve's name on the Caller ID. She didn't know which button to press. After several moments of thought, she pressed the "Accept call" button and put her iPhone to her ear.

"Hi," she said.

"Oh, didn't think you'd pick up your phone. Thought Jesse was over," Steve said.

"Not for another two hours."

"Right, right."

There was an awkward silence on the phone. D.J. had given her cell number to Steve so as not to make the whole house know and feel awkward when she was talking to Steve. He could talk to her privately on her cell. But right now, she'd wish that there was talking going on all around her in the kitchen, not the silence going on around her when everyone was in the living room watching television.

"Look, D.J.," Steve started, "I really want to say I'm sorry about the kiss, but I'm not. What I'm sorry about is waiting two days to talk about it. And I can understand if you never want to see me again. I made a move and that wasn't right by you."

"But you're not sorry about the kiss?" D.J. asked.

"No, I'm not, because I love you and by the look in your eyes I know you wanted to kiss me, too."

She couldn't argue there. She'd figured out yesterday that she had wanted to kiss Steve, or she would've pulled away. It was those old feelings coming back and bubbling up to the surface. But now, they just kind of exploded.

"I can't argue there," D.J. said.

"So…am I still as good a kisser now as I was in high school?"

She smiled and laughed.

"Yes, you are still that good."

"That good at what?" Max asked as he came down the stairs to the kitchen. Apparently, he had been in his new bedroom and had come downstairs. He had moved into J.D.'s room five days back after school. "Who's good at what?"

"Uh…," D.J. trailed off. "Steve's still good at wrestling. That's it."

"Who's there?" Steve asked.

"Max is. Listen, Steve, Jesse's coming in soon until Wednesday for Steph's demo and…"

"You want me to stay away for a little."

"Just because I don't want Jesse to—"

"Get the wrong idea, I know." D.J. wasn't that surprised about him staying away. It was more surprising that he would finish her sentences. "Have fun, Deej."

"Bye," D.J. said, hanging up the phone. She put her cell down onto the kitchen counter and sighed. She looked at Max. "Hi. Is the whole house clean?"

"Not a dust bunny to be seen," the boy said. "But Jesse won't stop playing his guitar."

D.J. nodded and went up to her sons' room. She opened the door to see Jesse's half, which consisted of him on his bed and a bunch of rock n roll posters on the wall with an out of place firefighter's hat on his bedside table.

"J.D., stop playing your guitar for a while. It's driving your brother nuts," D.J. said.

J.D. stopped and looked at his mother.

"Fine, then tell Aunt Stephanie to stop singing," he said. "At least until Jesse gets here. He gonna ride his motorcycle?"

"I mean, we'll see about the motorcycle. Aunt Stephanie singing I can do nothing about."

"Mom, how long were you and Dad just friends before he asked you out?"

D.J. knew where this was going, and she didn't like it. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Jesse Katsopoulis was early. D.J. had never been happier to have a guest arrive early. She raced down the steps to see Kimmy and Stephanie there. Ramona was still in bed—it was 11:30—and Max was slowly coming in from the kitchen. J.D. was following his mother downstairs.

"Coming!" the matriarch yelled, opening the door to reveal a middle-aged Elvis loving man that had helped raise her for the eight most important years of her life. "Uncle Jesse."

"D.J., come here!" Jesse said, giving his niece a hug.

He hugged all his family members—minus Kimmy, but, come on, that should've been an easy one to figure out—and put his helmet on the couch.

"So, Jesse, wanna hear the new stuff I'm working on?" Stephanie asked.

"Sure, give me a few minutes to talk to D.J., though," Jesse said, dragging D.J. into the kitchen.

"What?" she asked.

"Max called the house to ask who Steve was. Mind explaining?"

"Last week I ran into Steve in a grocery store and we've been seeing each other."

"Are you dating him?"

"No, you know it's too early. I haven't even taken any of Tommy's old clothes out of the closet, they're starting to get yellow. No, Steve and I are just friends…but…I'm falling back in love with him."

Jesse took a seat down at the counter and looked at his niece. She seemed very upset at the fact that she was falling in love again—even if it was with an old flame. He had seen this on Danny when he started dating again. He had seen how time had taken effect on his brother-in-law.

"Look, D.J., I don't know you're feeling right now, because I don't know how it is to lose a husband, but I know what it feels like to lose a loved one. Now, you said it's too soon?" he asked. D.J. nodded. "And you say that you're falling in love again?" D.J. nodded again. "So, you stop seeing him for a while and that'll take away the feelings. Badda bing, badda boom, done!"

Now D.J. knew that her uncle had his heart in the right place, but that didn't mean that his words were always…right. D.J. knew that not seeing him for a while wouldn't take away the feelings, but it might do some good.

"You're right, I shouldn't see Steve for a while," D.J. agreed. "Go see Steph, I'm gonna call Steve."

"Alright," Jesse said. He kissed D.J.'s head. "How long has Steph been singing?"

"Well, it's eleven-thirty so about three hours, which is about three hours more than everybody wants her to."

Jesse smiled and went downstairs while D.J. got her cell phone out of her bag and ran upstairs, past a confused Kimmy and her two kids' room. She locked the door behind her as she looked at the screen on her phone. She played with her phone, wondering how to go about the conversation.

After several minutes of contemplating and several knocks on the door from family members asking why she had been in her room for a long time, she clicked on Steve's contact information and held the phone to her ear.

"You've got Steve," a voice that sounded full of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich filled her ears.

"Are you eating again?" D.J. asked.

There was a large gulp and some noises being made around.

"Oh, h-hi," Steve said.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"About…?"

"I…I think we should stay away from each other for a while."

There were a few moments of silence on the other line.

"O-Okay," Steve said.

"You understand, right? It's just…I don't wanna date again so soon and I'm falling in love with you again. It's…"

"Completely, um, understand. Yeah. If you ever, uh, need anything, you can, um, call me."

There was a break in his voice, and D.J. felt her own tears come to her eyes. Her heart was breaking again. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. She and Steve were supposed to ride off into the sunset after their prom.

"Yeah, I know. I, uh, will call you when I'm ready."

"Okay."

There was a beeping sound, letting D.J. know that Steve had disconnected the call.

D.J. slid her back against her bedroom wall until she fell to the ground. She sat there crying her eyes out for a good twenty minutes. No one in the house dared bother her. Staying away was good, she kept reminding herself. But being without Steve for the second time in years was going to kill her, she knew.


	8. Steve to the Rescue

It had been three weeks without Steve. Jesse had come and gone, and Stephanie had gotten a record deal. Max and J.D. had been doing well in school and were now on Spring Break, as was Ramona—even though she wasn't doing so well grade-wise. It was now the day before D.J.'s due date and her family was watching her like a hawk.

"Guys, seriously, take your eyes off me for one minute!" D.J. yelled. "I love you guys, but this is getting too much. Go see a movie or something!"

D.J. was grateful that her sister was at the recording studio without her phone, glad that one less person was looking at her, waiting for the baby to pop out of her at any waking second.

"Mom, we have to stay here in case the baby comes," J.D. said.

"I'm fine. If anything happens, Mrs. Grace is right next door."

Kimmy looked at her best friend with a skeptical eye.

"J.D., stay here and watch your mom. If anything happens, you know my cell. The rest of us will go to a movie and we'll be back soon."

Jesse was more than happy to stay with his mother. The others went out the front door. It was an hour later when D.J.'s water broke.

"Oh my lanta, my water broke!" she yelled.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" J.D. yelled.

"J.D., go next door and get Mrs. Grace for me."

J.D. nodded and ran out the door. He knocked out his neighbor's door and rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. She wasn't home.

"Shit," he murmured. He knew she shouldn't swear, but because this was an emergency he thought it was okay for this one time. He ran back into his house and said to his mother, "She's not there."

"Then call Kimmy, but get my bag upstairs in my room!" D.J. yelled.

J.D. ran upstairs and grabbed his mother's back from her room. He took a moment to look at his father's shirts, extremely sad that Tommy wasn't here. He would've loved to be there, he knew.

He grabbed his mother's cell phone, knowing he should call Kimmy. He knew that was what his mother instructed, but he knew how annoying those moviegoers who's cell phones rang during the movie.

He tried it anyway.

"This is Gibbler. Leave a message at the beep," Kimmy's voicemail said.

"Shit," he swore again. "Kimmy, it's me. Mom's in labor. Mrs. Grace isn't home so I'm going to call someone. Come to the hospital when you get out of the movie. I'll let you know where."

And then he knew what he had to do.

"JESSE DANIELS WHERE ARE YOU?!" his mother yelled.

"COMING! KIMMY DIDN'T ANSWER HER PHONE! CALLING SOMEBODY ELSE!"

Jesse didn't hear his mother yell who it was because he was already pressing the contact he knew he needed to call. He hated it, knowing he needed this person. He knew his mother had been depressed lately, and this might be the reason.

He sighed and put the phone to his ear, letting it ring. Four rings later, a deep voice answered.

"Hello?" the voice said.

"Steve, I need your help," J.D. said.

"J.D.? What's wrong? Is it D.J.? Is she in trouble? Is she going into labor? What, what, what?" Steve rambled.

"Mom's water broke and Mrs. Grace isn't home and neither is Kimmy or Aunt Stephanie and I can't drive! Can you come over here and drive Mom to the hospital?"

"Stay right there. I'll be there in ten minutes."

There was a click and J.D. ran down the stairs with his mother's bag.

"Who's coming?" she asked as a contraction went through her body.

J.D. was a little reluctant in the answer. He knew about his mother's promise to Steve, but at this moment, it didn't matter.

"Steve," he said.

"Steve?"

"Kimmy's got her cell phone off and Mrs. Grace isn't home. He's the first one I thought of!"

D.J. groaned. Of course Steve would come. It was just her luck that nobody was home or answering their phone.

"Dammit, Kimmy," she whispered.

There was a knock on the door five minutes later and J.D. let in a sweating Steve.

"Come on," he said, completely ignoring J.D. "We're going to the hospital."

"Steve—" D.J. started, but a contraction went through her.

"Deej, we're going. Jesse, grab your mother's bag. We're going to my car and to the hospital. Call Steph and Kimmy."

J.D. grabbed his mother's bag as Steve led D.J. to the car. J.D. called Kimmy and let her know they were on their way to the hospital with Steve.

Boy, would that surprise them.

"J.D., where's Steph and Kimmy?" Steve said.

"Steph's recording and didn't have her phone. The rest are at a movie."

"Okay, we're here. J.D., stay here. I'll get your mother into a wheelchair and I'll be right out," Steve said, outside the hospital. He ran back in and two minutes later came back out to get J.D.

J.D. saw his mother go back into a room with a doctor and saw a nurse come to Steve. He crept over to the desk where the two were standing to hear what they were saying.

"Okay, sir, just fill out this form and we'll get your wife ready," the blonde-haired nurse said.

"Oh, I'm not her husband," Steve said.

"Boyfriend?"

"Just a friend."

"Maybe her son hiding behind the curve of the desk can help you fill out the information with the help of her purse in his hands."

Steve turned around and smiled at the 13 year old.

"Come on, you can help me as much as you can," Steve said, sitting down with J.D.

J.D. smiled at the man. Maybe this man wasn't as bad as he thought.

In the delivery room, D.J. was shouting and screaming. Kimmy finally came into the room ten minutes later.

"He would be so proud," Kimmy said. "Deej, just focus."

"Where are the kids?" D.J. asked.

"With Steve. Steph's helping him with the forms and then she'll be in. Stephanie met me at the house and we drove here once I told her what happened."

"J.D.'s really smart."

"It must've been hard for him."

"Yea—AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Okay, Mrs. Fuller, it's time to start pushing."

"STEPHANIE JUDITH TANNER GET IN HERE!" D.J. yelled, which could be heard all the way to the waiting room.

Stephanie immediately got up and ran into the delivery room and watched her sister pushing and holding Kimmy's hand until Timothy Junior came out of D.J., crying loudly.

The adults smiled in the room.

"I'll let the guys and Ramona know," Kimmy said, leaving the sisters to marvel at their new family member.

"Tommy would've loved being here," Stephanie said as soon as Kimmy left and Timothy Junior was in D.J.'s arms.

"Which makes this all so much harder," D.J. said, tears coming to her eyes.

"But look, you've got a beautiful new son. A piece of him."

D.J. looked down at Timothy and smiled. The sisters stayed like that for a few more moments until the Fuller children, Kimmy and Ramona stepped through the door.

Immediately, D.J. knew that there was one very important person missing from the group. Stephanie knew it too and went out to the waiting room to see Steve, in his red lumberjack shirt, staring at the ground.

"Hey, we're seeing the baby. You want to?" she asked, sitting down next to her sister's ex-boyfriend, the ex-boyfriend that she thought was going to marry D.J.

"No," Steve said, waving the thought away. "She probably wouldn't want me in there, anyway. Just friends and family."

"You know," Stephanie said after a moment of silence, "you're a friend. You're a great friend. You came in D.J.'s most needed time. Nobody else was there and J.D. immediately called you once he couldn't get Kimmy."

"Yeah, well, that was nothing."

"Steve, that wasn't 'nothing.' You're in love with her."

"I am, very much, Steph. I'd like to be with her again one day, if she's ever ready for that again."

Stephanie got up and put her hand in front of Steve.

"Come on, you're coming with me to see the baby," she said.

Steve sighed and grabbed her hand, letting her lead the way to see his ex-girlfriend's baby with her late husband.

That sounded weird to him, but after seeing D.J. again and falling in love with her again, nothing was impossible to him anymore.

D.J. smiled as soon as Steve opened the door. The room was complete now.

"Steve, meet Timothy Junior," she said, motioning her head towards the newborn.

"Nice to meet you," he said to the sleeping baby.

"Um, guys, let's go to the cafeteria and find something to eat," Kimmy said, ushering the kids and Stephanie out of the room.

"But, Mom—" Ramona protested.

"Not 'buts' right now. Go."

The door closed behind them, leaving Steve and D.J. alone with the baby. And, for a moment, it seemed like the future Steve always envisioned with D.J.: having a family with the girl he loved.

"Thank you," D.J. said.

"I'm sure I'll have some sort of emergency and Jasmine will have to call you. And when she does, you'll be there. I know it."

D.J. and Steve smiled at each other, looking into each other's eyes.

The doctor came in again, breaking the spell which held their eyes together.

"Hi again, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller," she said, closing the door.

"Oh, uh, we're not married," Steve said.

"Oh, my mistake."

"Is anything wrong?" D.J. asked.

"No," the doctor said, "but you need your rest. I suggest that you and your visitors give you some time to rest. You can go home tomorrow if you feel like it."

"Great."

"I'll check in later to see how you're doing."

The doctor closed the door and Steve and D.J. were in awkward silence.

"Well, I'm going to go tell them we should probably let you have your rest," Steve said, moving towards the door.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" D.J. asked.

"Do you want me to?"

"Of course," she answered. "It was part of Uncle Jesse's idea, actually. He thought it was best that if I wanted to not be in love with you, to stay away. I just wanted to stay away until…until I was ready."

"Completely understandable."

"I'm sorry—"

"Deej, don't be sorry. Never be sorry for not being ready. I'll wait until you tell me you're ready. And, hey, if you're not, we're still friends."

The word 'friends' was not so appealing to D.J. anymore. No, she didn't want to date Steve again just yet, but she didn't want to be just friends with him for that much longer.

"My dad didn't start dating until a year after my mom died," she said.

"And I'll wait five months if I have to. Just focus on Timothy for right now. I'll be back tomorrow."

Steve left. D.J. laid back and let the nurses who had just come in, put her baby into the bin next to her with his named on the tag and marking down he was twenty one inches and eight pounds.

What Steve did that day was something that none of the family living in the Fuller house would ever forget. And, just like he promised, Steve came back the next day with the rest of the family, making D.J.'s world bright.

Tommy watched above from Heaven as his wife gave birth and was falling in love with her ex-again. And even though he wished he could've been down there himself, he was happy that she was with someone that loved her as much as he did when he was alive.


	9. It's the Baby's Day...Right?

It had been two weeks since the baby was born and D.J. was extremely tired not only from lack of sleep, but from planning the party that her family was attending that Saturday.

It was Saturday and D.J. was freaking out. Kimmy and Ramona were still in bed even though it was ten and Kimmy had promised that she would be up by eight. Max and J.D. were cleaning their room and Timothy Junior was sleeping. Her family, consisting of Danny and her stepmother; Alex, Nicky, Becky and Jesse, Joey and her mother and father-in-law, Jessica and Mike, were coming in an hour.

The doorbell rang and D.J. went and opened it to see Jasmine and Steve, bringing food.

"We just wanted to bring you some more food," Jasmine said, holding up the two bags of chips she was holding her arms.

"Yeah, we know Nicky and Alex have some appetite with them," Steve said. "Where should we put this?"

"Uh, kitchen," D.J. said.

"Don't worry, we're just bringing food. We'll be out of your hair soon," Steve said, putting the chips on the table.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure my family would be…uh…delighted to see you."

Steve gave D.J. a look.

"I know your in-laws are coming. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to see a guy with a daughter in your daughter in your house."

D.J. couldn't argue there. She was nervous already about her family coming, but Steve being in the house was shooting her nerves up one hundred fold.

"Okay, you put the food down, let's get you out of the house," D.J. said, putting her hands on the back of Steve's body and pushing him towards the front door.

"Jasmine, come on, D.J.'s kicking us—"

But Steve had to stop because the door opened to reveal the man he hadn't seen in two decades.

Danny Tanner came face to face with the man he never thought he'd see again since prom night. He looked to his daughter.

"D.J., why is there a Steve Hale in your house?"

The oldest Tanner daughter didn't know how to respond. She was thankful when Kimmy came down with the baby in her arms.

"Deej, why is your father two hours early? Also, why is Steve in our house?"

"We caught good traffic," Danny answered.

And before D.J. could push Steve out the door, her uncle, aunt, cousins, Joey and in-laws came in behind him. Everybody except Michael and Jessica looked shocked to see the former couple in the same house together.

"Uh…D.J.? Mind explaining?" Joey asked.

"Dad, is something wrong? You haven't come back to the kitchen in five minutes," Jasmine asked, coming through the door. She stared at all the people. "Uh…hi?"

"I'm gonna go get T.J.," Kimmy said, running away from the awkward moment.

"Grandpa!" Max and J.D. yelled at the same time, coming down the stairs.

"Boys!" Danny yelled, opening his arms for his grandsons, accepting their big hugs.

"Did you bring us anything?" Max asked.

"Max, what did I tell you about asking your grandpa for gifts?" D.J. said.

"Don't ask."

"But if you didn't ask, you wouldn't get room cleaner," Danny said.

"Or new picks," Jesse said.

Max and J.D. both held their hands out and received their gifts. Steve stealthily slipped away into the kitchen and through the kitchen door with Jasmine. Only D.J., a returning Kimmy with T.J., Becky and Jessica noticed.

None of the girls paid attention to the baby as they noticed D.J. look forlornly at the kitchen door.

"Deej, let's get out some snacks," Becky said to her niece.

"I'll help," Jessica said, pulling her brown hair back into a ponytail and out of her face. "Can't have too many hands."

D.J. nodded and as soon as they were through the kitchen, the two women sat their family member down into a chair and stared at her.

"Okay, Deej, what's going on with you and that ex of yours?" Becky asked.

"Steve was here?" Stephanie asked, coming down the stairs from her sleep. She had gotten home late from the studio the night before and had slept in. Ramona was still in bed, though. "Why was Steve here?"

"Dropping off food," her sister said.

"Steve was an ex?" Jessica said.

"A lot of years ago. And then we met again a few months ago at the supermarket and everything in my life changed."

"You ran into him in a supermarket?" Becky cocked her head, obviously thinking what everyone else had thought all along: if there was one place to run into him, it was the supermarket. "Makes sense."

"We went out a few times and about two months ago, I told him I was falling back in love with him, and we kissed," D.J. said. She looked at Jessica for the next part, unsure of how she wanted to say it. "We kissed and it was amazing and wonderful, and it was one of the times I've felt happiest since Tommy died. I stayed away from him for a month, and it w He's the one that took me to the hospital when J.D. was with me when I went into labor. He's…he's the Godfather of T.J."

D.J. started crying during the speech. She didn't realize how much Steve had been there for the past few months.

"And Jasmine's his daughter?" Becky said.

"Yeah. One of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet," D.J. responded. She looked at Jessica. "I haven't forgotten about Tommy. He was the love of my life. It's too soon to date, anyway, with the baby and it hasn't even been a year."

Jessica looked at her daughter-in-law. Her son couldn't have found a better woman. Now that he was deceased, she knew that he would have wanted her to find love.

And by the way D.J. was talking, Jessica knew that D.J. had (re)found the person she loved and would spend the rest of her life with.

"D.J., I know my son, and I know that he would be very happy that you've found someone…or, in this case, re found him. And I know that you're a smart girl that knows when she's ready for a relationship with somebody she really cares about."

"Deej, do you love him?" Stephanie asked her sister. "Like, really, love him."

D.J. didn't answer. She knew the answer, she knew she the moment she knew the answer. It was just that if she said the words out loud then that would make them true.

"I made him promise the day T.J. was born that he would come back the next day. He did and that's the moment I knew that I was in love with him. And for months I've just been denying the moment I would fall back in love with him."

"So you've been sitting on this secret for two weeks?" Becky said.

"I'm waiting just a little bit longer to tell him."

"He's gonna wait forever for you, you know," Stephanie said.

"He's all but said so."

"Deej? Girls, everything okay? I know you guys aren't getting snacks," Danny asked, coming into the kitchen holding his new grandson. "You're missing all the fun out here."

"Fine," the four girls responded.

"Okay, if you need anything, we'll all be out here, playing with T.J."

"Got it," Donna Jo said.

Danny nodded and left.

"Well, I have yet to meet him, so I'll be out there," Becky said, going out of the kitchen.

Stephanie noticed her sister's expression of wanting to talk to Jessica alone. She also exited the kitchen.

"Jessica, I want to ask you if you could help me with something?" D.J. said.

"Of course," Jessica said.

"I don't know how you're going to take this. Or the boys when I tell them."

"D.J., what is it?"

"Sometime this week can you help me move Tommy's clothes out of the closet? I think it's been almost a year, I think it's really time that I get those shirts out of there."

Jessica smiled and nodded her head.

"I think that'd be a great idea," she said, putting her hand on her daughter-in-law's shoulder. "And just because you fell in love with Steve again doesn't mean you love Tommy any less. You named your son after Tommy, that's something that's important to remember."

"My only thought is that when he grows up to be older and realizes that there's no Timothy in the family he's going to question it. It's gonna bring everything back and it's going to hurt so much more."

Jessica knew what she had to do now. She had never told this story to anyone, not even her husband.

"D.J., when I was sixteen, the boy who I was in love with died in a tragic car accident. He had given me a promise ring that we would be married, and I kept that on for years. The hurt never really goes away. You know that from your mother, and your father knows that, too. Owen was an amazing guy, and everytime that the anniversary of his death comes, I just remind myself of how much we loved each other and all the happy times."

"You know, one of his first words will be 'Dad' and the closest thing he's going to have to a father figure is Steve," D.J. said, playing with her fingers. "Jesse was really torn up about Tommy. He was really upset when Steve started coming around. He was the one that called Steve when the baby was coming. I think that he and Max would be torn up if T.J. started calling Steve his father."

"You'll cross that bridge if and when you come to it."

There was a knock on the door. The women turned to the door to see Steve, smiling and waving. Jessica left and let D.J. answer the door.

"Forget your chips?" she joked.

"No," he said. He walked over to the counter. "I forgot my licorice."

D.J. rolled her eyes and smiled. She knew that now was the time to tell him, or she wouldn't be able to say it for a long time.

"Steve, there's something I need to tell you," she said.

"Yeah?" Steve said.

"This is really hard for me to say, and I know this is going to change everything, but no timeline changes. I'm still not ready."

Steve looked at D.J. confused, thinking he had missed a sentence somewhere. He sat down in the chair next to her that she was currently occupying.

"I missed something," he told her.

"Steve, I'm in love with you," she said, tears in her eyes.

Steve smiled, but he knew better than to go in for a kiss. She was obviously very vulnerable and he, being a gentleman, didn't want to take advantage of that. He would wait until she was ready and until she initiated the kiss.

He wasn't that kind of man.

"I love you, too, D.J."

D.J. smiled. She had a feeling that she should kiss him. But not now. Not when she wasn't ready, and definitely not when her family was here.

Jesse had come down the stairs into the kitchen, unintentionally spying. He had heard all the conversation with his grandma, and it made his heart hurt hearing all those things that she had been through. It hurt him knowing that his mother had been crying for a long time.

But knowing that his mother and Steve were back in love with each other made him feel a little bit better. He was okay with Steve now. He knew that he wouldn't replace Tommy in his or his mother's heart, but he knew she had to move forward…er, backward?

He crept back upstairs, this information in his head. He knew she should let his mother knew soon that he knew, but it was going to be his little secret for now.

"D.J., I'll wait until you're ready. No matter if it takes until we're fifty," Steve said.

"Makes me feel a lot better," D.J. said.

"You probably should get back to your family."

"Yeah. Do you wanna go see a movie and get some dinner tomorrow?"

Steve smiled and said, "I'll pick you up at seven."

He winked and left. D.J.'s heart fluttered and she left the kitchen with a smile on her face, heart fluttering the entire rest of the day that her family stayed, remembering how she had finally admitted her feelings to the first boy she had ever loved. And, if planned, the last.


	10. Dinner and a Movie

It wasn't a date.

It was the millionth time D.J. had thought that since she had met the man for coffee all those months ago. But this was different. This was so much more different than movie night or coffee.

This was them…being in love and taking it slow until D.J. decided she was ready to date again.

"It's dinner and a movie," Stephanie said, coming into her sister's room, noticing the older girl wearing slacks, a nice T-shirt and flats, pacing the floor. D.J. ignored her. Steph, wanting to get her sister off the fact that her ex-boyfriend was coming to pick her up for dinner and a movie in fifteen minutes, grasped for something to say. "Tommy's shirts and everything out?"

"Yeah, his mom and dad took them last night," D.J. answered.

"It's no big deal. Deej, you've been out with Steve before. You guys went out for coffee, you guys kissed in our living room during a movie."

"I admitted yesterday I was in love with him."

"But he knows you aren't ready to date again! D.J., we keep coming back to this point! If you wanna date the guy then do it! If you don't, then don't! You're driving the rest of us bananas, not to mention what J.D. is going through. Max is still too young to know his mother's in love with another, but it hasn't been a year and Jesse is still devastated. He wants you to be happy, but you need to decide what you want because this back and forth of wanting him but not wanting to date, because you're driving the rest of us nuts!" Stephanie admitted.

D.J. stared at her younger sister. She knew what Jesse was feeling. She had gone through it herself, but at an older age. And her father had also waited a year, and hadn't just had a baby two weeks before.

Not a date.

D.J. and Stephanie were still staring at each other, daring the other to say something when the doorbell rang.

"MOM! STEVE IS HERE!" Max yelled, even though he hadn't even opened the door. "Yay, yay, yay!"

The six year old had become close to the high school wrestling coach. They had formed a bond, and while D.J. certainly loved it, Jesse wasn't so fond of it. Even though he wanted his mother happy and thought Steve was a good guy, he was far from having a bond with the man.

D.J. threw a panicked glance at her sister and Stephanie smiled.

"If Kimmy calls—" D.J. said, speaking of her absent best friend that was out with her daughter that night.

"Tell her you and Steve are fine and that you're not going to run off to Reno without her," Stephanie finished.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

D.J. opened the door to see Steve in nice shoes, black pants and a nice blue shirt. The two stared at each other, drinking in the other's gorgeous appearance.

"Deej, you look—" Steve said.

"You do, too," D.J. said, a little shyly.

Stephanie rolled her eyes at the lovesick couple and made a face, much like she did when she was twelve, at the cuteness of the couple aimed toward Max.

"Have fun," Stephanie said, ushering the two out of the house. She turned to her nephew. "Ice cream time!"

Steve opened the car door for D.J., like the old gentleman he was. D.J. thanked him and got in, buckling her seatbelt while waiting for Steve to get into his side of the car.

"So, Sizzler still one of your favorite places?" Steve asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Oh, like you don't already know," D.J. said, smiling.

"Onto Sizzler, then!"

They talked very little to the restaurant, and even though this was only a friendship date, Steve didn't want to admit how much he wanted it to be a real date. D.J., on the other hand, was just wanting to get through the night with the boy she was in love with even after all these years.

They got to the Sizzler after a few minutes and D.J. opened her own door while Steve got the door to the restaurant.

"Table for two," Steve said, walking up to the hostess.

"Okay, give me on minute," the hostess said, looking over to see an available table. "Okay, follow me."

D.J. and Steve followed the teenager to a table in the back.

"First date, huh?" the girl asked, and Steve and D.J.'s bodies froze. "You guys look as nervous as nervous could be."

Steve and D.J. glanced at each other and glanced away as the girl left.

"So," D.J. said, opening up the menu, trying to clear the awkwardness away, "what movie are we seeing?"

"Trainwreck, if-if that's okay," Steve said.

D.J. smiled and giggled.

"That's fine."

"Good."

And they started to relax. And after a while, while eating their food, they fell into their old rhythm. And while they weren't the same people they were back fifteen years ago, they were still the same D.J. and Steve.

Which made D.J. very upset when she realized that this wasn't a date.

And she wanted to scream, and to cry, and to just shout to the world that she was in love with Steve Hale and she wanted to be his again, and him hers. She wanted to jump across the table and kiss him and tell him how much she wanted it to be a date.

And that's all she kept thinking about through dessert and part of the movie. And even though she just had a baby with her late husband, she wanted this man again. She wanted him in the house, as more than just a friend. He felt right.

He felt like love, which, coincidentally, was what he tasted like, too.

Let me back up about five minutes.

After the movie, Steve had driven her back to her house.

"I had an amazing time tonight," D.J. admitted.

"Me too. Do it again?" Steve said.

D.J. bit her lip. It was now or never.

"In…in a different way," she said.

"Oh, so mini-golfing?"

She chuckled at that.

"No, more like…a date."

Steve stared at her.

"Deej, are you sure? I mean, we don't have to if you're not ready."

D.J. could see her sons, sister, best friend and best friend's daughter peeking through the windows. She tried to ignore them as she did one of the hardest things she ever had to do.

"I'm ready. I want to be yours again, Steve," she said, and took the back of his neck in her hand and forced his mouth to meet hers in a love-filled kiss.

It took her back to their kisses years ago, all their sweet kisses. But this wasn't a sweet kiss. It was a passionate, tongue-filled kiss that went on for a long time before both had to break for air. But their heads were like magnets, drawn to each other for their foreheads met after their lips disconnected and they smiled.

"I love you," D.J. said, opening her eyes to meet his sparkling ones.

"I love you too. Be my girlfriend again?" he asked.

"Yes," she admitted, pulling him into another kiss, but one more sweet. She pulled away and bit her lip. "I've gotta go."

"Yeah, me too," he said, pulling away from her arms. He started down the steps but raced back and kissed her quickly citing, "One more for the road" as a reason and then racing down the steps again and drove away.

D.J. grinned and walked in the door to see Stephanie and Kimmy smiling hugely.

"I'm glad you're happy, Mom," Jesse said, hugging his mother.

"Thanks, hon," D.J. said.

"So, you and Steve-O again?" Kimmy inquired.

"Oh, like you all weren't watching through the window! Don't think I didn't see."

"Oh, like you weren't going to omit details," Stephanie said.

Max, Romano and Jesse gave each other a look and quietly excused themselves to let the adults talk.

"So," Kimmy said as D.J. sat next to her on the couch, "spill."

And D.J. admitted everything. Everything during the date, all her thoughts, all the comments the hostess said, but left the details of the kiss and what she felt during the kiss to herself. No, that would be kept inside her.

"You and Steve." Stephanie's head fell back against the chair's headrest. "We all thought you would get married."

"You weren't the only ones," D.J. said.

"We weren't?"

"I think everyone imagines that they'll marry their first love. I certainly didn't think we'd go our separate ways, but we did. But…being in love with again…it feels so right."

"You guys going on a real date soon?" Kimmy asked.

"Yeah," D.J. answered. "Soon."

"And we'll have another kid in the house after that," Stephanie said.

"WHAT?!" I shouted. "Are you pregnant?"

Stephanie shook her head.

"No! I meant Jasmine! You and Steve get married she'll be your stepdaughter," Stephanie explained.

"Marriage is a few years off the table," D.J. said.

"Well, you never know."

Stephanie and Kimmy headed to their separate rooms and D.J. changed into her nightclothes. She crawled into her bed and looked at the photo of Tommy. She knew Tommy wanted her to happy, she did. She knew she had promised herself never to fall in love again, but that wasn't what life had had in store for her. She smiled at the photo, though. While she knew that Steve had her heart after all those years, Tommy would always be the guy. The guy who had stolen her heart unexpectedly, the guy who had fathered her children, who had been there through everything.

It would take a little more time to adjust to Steve being in her life, but she adapted well to everything else. She just hoped when she did adapt the whole way, her family followed suit.


	11. The Decision

It had been about a year since that first date and everything had been going swimmingly. In fact, everything had been going so swimmingly that the two had decided to move in together, granted that everybody was okay with Steve and Jasmine moving in.

"Meeting!" D.J. called to the household as Steve had an arm around her waist and Jasmine sat in a chair across from the couch.

Three pairs of children's feet, plus D.J.'s sister carrying T.J. and Kimmy came bounding down the steps.

"Hey guys, didn't know you were coming over today," Stephanie greeted.

Basically everyone had accepted Steve into the family. Jesse was happy with his mother's decision. Steve was a great guy, and his mother was happy, but he knew he would never get used to Steve being in the house, sleeping in his father's bed, cooking dinner with the pans his father had used, picking up his baby brother who called Steve "Dad". He knew Steve wasn't trying to replace his father. Steve had sat him down one day and told him that, but still, having Steve and Jasmine around the house was weird, and he didn't know if he would ever get used to it.

"Well, what's the meeting for?" Ramona asked as everyone either sat on furniture or stood.

"We've thought a lot about this," D.J. said.

"We think this is a great idea, but only if everyone is on board with this," Steve continued.

"Engaged!" Max shouted.

"No, no, no, not yet."

"Then what is it?" Jasmine asked, having an inkling of what it could be. She loved D.J. like a mother. She wanted to spend more time with her, if that was even possible. She knew how hard it must be for the boys. For them to have their mother's boyfriend and daughter around the house. Though, she'd had more practice than them, so she was more open and accepting of the idea of changing houses than she knew that J.D. was. "Are you guys moving in together?"

"Only if everyone is okay with that," D.J. answered.

The room went quiet. Nobody had expected that answer.

"Oh," Kimmy said. "Well, that's…"

"Unexpected," Steph finished. "What about bedrooms?"

"If Kimmy wouldn't mind moving into the attic then the girls could share a bed. Or, Steph, if you wouldn't mind moving into the attic, then the girls would have separate bedrooms," D.J. answered, glad that she and Steve had figured all this out beforehand.

"I'm okay with it!" Max shouted.

"Welcome to the family, bud," Kimmy said.

"Yay!" Jasmine shouted, hugging D.J. tightly.

D.J. and Steve smiled at each other.

"I guess I could do some redecorating upstairs. Plus, Steve's over here all the time anyway eating our food, so…," Stephanie said.

The couple then looked at Ramona and J.D. Steve and D.J. knew that Jesse would be the hardest to convince, after all the trouble that Jesse had had with accepting Steve in the past.

"I'm all for it. Would be okay with another teen girl in the house," Ramona agreed, hugging the girl she had become close with over the past year.

"Jesse?" Steve said, though it sounded more like a question than a name. J.D. stayed silent, feeling everybody's eyes on him, either waiting for a yes or no. Steve came over to the boy, and everybody left, giving the two a chance to talk. "We don't have to move in here. We're only doing it if everybody's comfortable, since we're over here all the time anyway."

"It's just…it's odd, having another man in my mom's life. Seeing you kissing her, having you cook dinner and picking us up from school, hearing Tommy Junior call you 'Dad', everything that a father would do," Jesse said.

"I'm not trying to replace your father, I've told you that, but I'm sorry if I've done anything that made you feel like I am. I'll try to work things out, but I can't do anything about T.J."

J.D. nodded. Frankly, he liked the idea of having Steve and Jasmine around. He had become quite close to both of them, even standing up to Jasmine's bullies when they teased her about not having a mom. He just didn't want Steve to take the place of his father.

"Can the pictures of my father still be up in the house?" J.D. asked.

"We'll never take them down," Steve promised.

He loved this kid like his own, knowing one day that all of D.J.'s kids would be his stepsons. He knew moving in with D.J. was a big step, but both of them felt ready and knew they could handle this.

It gave Steve hope that if they could handle four kids with the help of Steph and Kimmy, they could get through anything.

"I think it would be great if you guys moved in here," J.D. said finally.

In any movie or story, the boy and mother's boyfriend would hug, but this wasn't a movie, so the boy and his mother's boyfriend did not hug, they stayed where they were, smiling at each other.

"Deej, I'm moving in!" Steve shouted to Donna Jo.

She ran through the kitchen door and hugged him, legs tight around his waist. Everybody came in slowly, congratulating the couple and making plans for move-in day, which would happen in a few weeks. Jasmine noticed J.D. still sitting on the couch.

"You're a good son," she told him.

"I mean, it'll be nice to have you guys around. You and your father are great people. And, I mean, after a year, it's hard to say no to you guys," J.D. said.

"We were gonna be moving in here sooner or later, you know."

"I know. You're going to be my stepsister in a few years."

Steve and D.J. looked at their kids laughing and smiling. They had heard every word.

"Come on, let's start moving my stuff up into the attic," Stephanie said. "This house'll always be full of people, won't it, Deej?"

D.J. smiled and nodded, remembering how full their house was when they were kids. She found it funny that now that her boyfriend and his daughter were moving in, they would have the exact same number of people in the house as they did when Nicky and Alex were born.

Nine seemed to be the magic number.

And as everybody started making plans about what was to happen, Donna Jo Fuller snuggled into Stephen Hale's side, his arm wrapped protectively around her. They were content, and a month later, Steve and Jasmine had moved into the house.

Everything was right.


	12. Fixing Problems

"Daddy's home!" Three year old Timothy Junior yelled as Steve Hale walked in through the front door of the house after a long day at school.

D.J. came out of the kitchen, cooking dinner, and smiled at her boyfriend of three years. She kissed him and T.J. made a disgusted sound.

"Mom, Dad, don't do that!"

D.J. looked at Steve, knowing that one day they would have to tell him the truth.

"Mom, Steve, what's for dinner?" J.D. asked, coming down from his room.

"I'm starving," Jasmine complained, coming down the steps behind J.D.

"Spaghetti," D.J. said, looking towards her children…well, child, but Jasmine was already like a daughter to her. Plus, she knew that Jasmine would become her stepdaughter one day, so why not just think it? "Where's Ramona?"

"Somewhere with her new boyfriend."

"Where's Max?"

"Upstairs in our room," J.D. said. "He's really upset. Kimmy tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen."

D.J. hadn't been home at that time, and Stephanie and Kimmy had left on dates before D.J. got home, not letting her know of what Max had been through.

"Why's he upset?" Steve asked.

"Well…," Jasmine started off.

"Jasmine, no," J.D. said.

"Jesse, they're going to find out sooner or later, and would you rather us fix it now than next month?"

J.D. sighed and nodded.

"What's going on?" D.J. said.

"He…he got bullied at school today. Some kid made fun of him because he doesn't have a dad," Jasmine said.

And then, the whole world stopped. Jasmine had tears in her eyes and J.D. looked heartbroken. T.J. had no idea what was going on and stared at his family. D.J. and Steve looked at each other, not knowing what to do, but knowing that one of them should talk to him.

They just didn't know what to say.

Of course, D.J. was the one adult right now who had lost a parent. The one who everybody would think would know the exact words to say. But she didn't. She and Jasmine had both lost a mother. Neither lost a father.

D.J. didn't know what to say, and so she looked to a lost Steve.

"I'll go up and talk to him," Steve said. "I—I think I know what he needs to hear."

The group in the living room nodded.

"Call when dinner's ready," Steve said, and took the stairs two at a time to get to Max and J.D.'s shared bedroom. He knocked. "Bud, are you in there?"

There was a sniffle from the other side of the door.

"Go away, Steve!" Max yelled.

Steve sighed and opened the door to a darkened room, Max curled up in his covers and sniffling. Steve turned on the light and took a moment to revel in the brightness that hurt his eyes.

"Your mother and I heard what happened at school today," Steve said.

Max curled tighter into a ball, because not only had he been bullied at school for not having a dad—even though that wasn't his fault—he was also unsure now as of how Steve fit into his life, and it got worse hearing how Steve said those words, like a father did.

At six, Max had always looked up to Steve, seen him as a guy that would be great with his mother. At nine, he still felt that way. But now he saw Steve as a father figure, someone who could teach him how to wrestle, maybe be a Boy Scout leader in his troop, teach him how to make birdhouses…like a dad.

So he was hurt when he heard Larry Carmichael say to him, "I don't know how you get on without a dad. I'd be nowhere without mine. The fact that you don't have a dad makes you a loser."

"I do!" Max had shot back immediately, thinking of Steve.

"Who? The high school wrestling coach?"

Max nodded.

"Please, he sticks around for your mother, not you."

And that was how Max ended up alone in bed, not wanting to talk to anyone.

"Max, please talk to me," Steve pleaded, gently touching the middle Fuller child.

"Larry Carmichael made fun of me for a not having a dad. I don't have one, so what he said was true. End of story," Max said.

"Don't listen to Larry. If you listen to the stupid kid who bullies you because something awful happened to you, then he wins. Don't let him win."

"T.J. has a dad."

Steve was confused.

"Who? Your dad was T.J.'s dad," he said.

"He calls you, 'Dad'," Max responded.

"Oh, um…" Steve turned red.

"Are you ever going to correct him? He needs to know you're not his birth father."

"Not the point right now," Steve said. "We'll talk to T.J. later, but right now, we're talking about you. Don't listen to them. You had a fantastic, brave father who loved you endlessly."

"I said to Larry that you were my dad," Max admitted. He had only told Steve what Larry had said about him being a loser, not what Max had said. "He said you stuck around for Mom, not us."

Steve got down on his knees and looked at the still sobbing boy, feeling his heart break.

"Hey, hey," he said. "You, your brothers and everyone in this house are the most important people to me. I love your mother even more than I did when we were teenagers because she had you and your brothers. She probably made the three best boys in the history of the world."

Steve brushed his hand against the small boy's hair. He got up and sat on the bed, bringing in the boy to his chest and let the boy sob into it.

"Steve?" Max asked.

"Yeah, dude?"

"There's, um, this father-son camping trip, um, soon, and…"

Max trailed off and Steve smiled.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Steve responded.

And that was the first smile that Max had shown since Larry had spoken to him.

"Steve?" Max said.

"Yeah, Max?"

"Please tell me you'll stay forever."

And of all the things Steve was unsure about in his life, he knew this one decision wasn't one of them.

"Yes, I'm staying forever."

Line break cause I still have no idea how to do those…

Steve came down with a happy Max fifteen minutes later. He kissed D.J. on the cheek as everyone settled down at the table.

"We're calling the Carmichael's after dinner," he whispered to his girlfriend.

D.J. just turned around and looked at her boyfriend's hardened eyes, full of hurt and sadness for—what they both considered—their son. She nodded.

And so that's what happened an hour later. D.J., Max and Steve were on speakerphone with Larry's parents, Lily and Ben.

"What did Larry say?" Lily asked.

"He said that our son was a loser because he didn't have a dad," D.J. said.

"'Our' son?" Ben said. "I was under the impression that you were widowed, Mrs. Fuller."

"Steve's been a father to me for the past three years and Larry said he wasn't when I said he was my father! He said Steve only sticks around for my mom, but he sticks around for my and my brothers, too!" Max interjected. "He's even taking me on the father-son camping trip next week!"

"Larry Anderson Carmichael, how dare you!" Lily yelled at her son. "We're terribly sorry for this, Mrs. Fuller and Mr. Hale. You…you have to understand that things aren't the best at home right now and he's taking it out at school. We'll have Larry apologize tomorrow after some explaining to us."

"Thank you, Mrs. Carmichael," Donna Jo said.

"Goodbye," Ben said, and the phone was hung up.

D.J. smiled at the two boys next to her.

"Camping trip, eh?" she inquired.

Max nodded and looked up at Steve with such admiration. He and Steve had always been particularly close, closer than J.D. and Steve were.

"I'm gonna do some homework," Max said. "Night Mom, Steve."

D.J. sat down next to Steve at the table. She noticed Steve had tears in his eyes.

"Aw, Steve," she said.

"He said I was his dad after that kid said he didn't have one."

"How'd you like it?"

"It was nice…"

"Stephanie had this problem," D.J. said, taking a sip of her coffee. "There was a Honey Bee's mother-daughter sleepover, and Mom had passed a few years back. She ended up going with Joey for part of it and came back. We had a talk about how much we missed Mom and then I took her to the party. She wasn't bullied or anything, but it's hard growing up with only one parent."

Steve wrapped an arm around D.J. and kissed her cheek.

"You want to marry me someday, right?" Steve asked.

"Of course," D.J. answered. "I love you too much to not marry you."

Steve smiled.

"I'll pop the question soon."

And D.J., being pulled into Steve's chest, felt warm and content as she said, "I'll be waiting with a yes."


	13. Permission

D.J. was on call and had been called to the vet clinic. It was a Saturday, but surprisingly everybody was home, leaving Steve to do what he had wanted to do for three months. It had been about five months since Steve and Max had talked.

"Can everybody come down right now?" Steve yelled to the house.

Shuffling feet from the basement, kitchen and upstairs rooms were heard until five kids and two adults sat down in the living room. Seven pairs of eyes were staring up at the man.

"What's going on?" Jasmine asked her father.

"I wanted to ask everybody something," Steve said. His eyes turned towards Max, T.J., Jasmine and J.D. His eyes turned towards Ramona, Stephanie and Kimmy.

"This sounds more like when you guys asked us about you moving in," J.D. commented.

Everybody's eyes went wide in realization.

"As you all know, I love D.J very much. She's my everything, she was when we were teenagers and she still is now. She's been one of the best things in my life. If you give me your permission, I promise that I will make her happy, I promise that I will take care of you kids to my best ability, and I swear with my life I will never intentionally hurt her," Steve said. He turned to Jasmine, who had tears running down her face. "Jas, you and I both lost someone special when you were young. You and your mother were always the most important people in my life, and what you went through was awful. I never wanted you to go through life with a mother.

"And when I found D.J. again, you had a mother. She's taken care of you, she's been like a second mother to you. I know that no one can replace your mother in either of our hearts, but Deej…Deej has put together my heart when I thought I could never love again. Do I have permission to ask her to marry me?"

Jasmine's head nodded so hard that everybody thought it might bob off. She hugged Steve tight, tears soaking his t-shirt.

Steve turned to the three boys sitting on the couch.

"I love your mother, and I love you three kids, too," he said. "You and your mother make me the happiest I've ever been since my wife died. Will you let me marry your mother?"

Max nodded eagerly. Jesse took a few more moments. He had grown fond of Steve, knowing that nobody would take the place of his father. He nodded. Timothy Junior nodded, though he was a confused four-year-old. Shouldn't Mommy and Daddy already be married?

Steve turned to Ramona, Kimmy and Steph.

"You don't even have to ask. Kimmy and I always thought you'd be the only one D.J. ends up with, so why don't both of us just skip to saying we agree with the kids?" Stephanie said.

"Ditto, Steve-O," Kimmy agreed.

"Ramona, how do you feel if I ask D.J. to marry me?" Steve said.

"You're amazing, so I'm sure that D.J. is going to be very happy with you," Ramona said.

Steve's chest felt a lot lighter, knowing that everything was going to be okay. Stephanie must've caught the smile cause she said,

"Hold up, Mister. Have you asked Dad yet?"

"D-Danny?" Steve stuttered.

Danny had been unsure about the rekindled relationship between Steve and D.J. Though, he did like the more mature Steve. The Steve that he knew would take care of his daughter and her three sons, if they wished. He also loved Jasmine.

"Yes, Danny," Stephanie said slowly. "The one who's going to be your father-in-law if everything goes well."

Shit, Steve thought.

"O-Okay," he stuttered again.

"Aw," Kimmy teased, "are you scared of Mr. Tanner?"

Steve rolled his eyes as to say "No", but his face screamed "Terrified".

"Look, all you have to do is call him and ask him for permission," Stephanie said.

Steve nodded and took out his cell phone. He dialed the Tanner house number and waited. After three rings, Daniel Tanner's voice came through the line.

"Steve, what's going on?" Danny answered.

"Um…h-hi, sir, um…," Steve said. He had never really been this nervous around Danny before. But what he was about to do was one of the most terrifying things ever.

He hadn't been this nervous when he was asking for his first wife's hand…and that's what made him even more nervous.

"Oh my gosh, give it here!" Stephanie yelled, ripping the phone out of Steve's hand, putting the phone on speaker and saying to her father, "Steve wants to ask D.J.'s hand in marriage. We've all given him our blessing. Now, because he's obviously a mumbling mess, just say he can propose to D.J., they can live happily ever after, blah blah blah. Just make Steve here stop gaping and stuttering whenever we mention your name."

The three boys giggled at their aunt, even Ramona and Jasmine laughed.

"Oh," Danny said after his daughter's outburst, and the line went silent. "Well…sure. Steve's great, he's always made D.J. happy. Just…don't hurt her."

And finally Steve found his voice.

"Yes, sir, won't hurt her," he said.

"Good. Goodbye, Steve."

"Goodbye, Danny."

The line went dead and everybody did a happy dance until the door opened and D.J. walked in.

"Dance party without any music?" she asked, hanging up her coat.

The room turned around and immediately everyone went silent.

"Just a little exercise," Jasmine lied.

"Okay," D.J. said, not convinced.

Oh don't worry, hun, Steve thought, you'll find out soon enough.


	14. Steve's Proposal

To say Steve Hale was nervous was an understatement. He was sweating bullets and if you were to look under his armpits, I swear there would be sweat stains. It wasn't like they were going anywhere special. The two were just having a date night with a Harry Potter marathon.

Steve had the ring in his pocket and had been playing with it mindlessly since he put it in his pocket. Jasmine had sat him down and told him she was happy that he had moved on, that she was sure her mom was too. She loved D.J. and she was sure that there was no other women besides her mom, for Steve. Steve had just hugged his daughter tight and kissed her on the forehead, telling her how much he loved her.

"See you tomorrow," she had called as Kimmy, Ramona, Jasmine, the three Fuller boys and Stephanie left the house. Kimmy had booked hotel rooms for them because she was sure that when they celebrated being engaged, well…let's just say they didn't want the kids in the house…

"Deej, the movie's about to start!" Steve called. "What's taking you so long? We're supposed to be in our pajamas! You don't need makeup, you look perfect, get down here before Dumbledore shows up!"

D.J. rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's silliness. But, she loved him wholeheartedly, nonetheless.

"Coming!" she yelled back.

She appeared at the top of the stairs, and Steve swore if he could, he would've pulled the ring out right there and proposed to her. She had her red, silk pajamas on, with no makeup and her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

There was never such a more beautiful look for Donna Jo Tanner-Fuller-hopefully-soon-Hale, Steve though.

But, he wanted to wait until the first movie ended, at least. Though, knowing his nervousness, he probably would get to Fluffy and pull out the ring right there. No, he had to wait until the credits rolled.

D.J. came down the steps in her red, silk pajamas a few minutes later as the home screen of the DVD came up on the television screen.

"There you are," he said, giving her a kiss as they both sat down on the floor in front of the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn and having two cups of Coke.

Steve was getting sweatier and more nervous as each important moment towards the finale passed during the movie. D.J. noticed, but didn't want to say anything, afraid he would get mad or lie. She decided she would just wait until Steve decided to tell her whatever was going on in his mind.

Finally, the movie ended and Steve took a few deep breaths, slowly turning to face D.J. He couldn't believe that this was happening. That finally he would be able to propose to this woman he had never stopped loving.

"Deej?" he asked.

"Yeah?" D.J. replied, turning to the sitting boy.

"We've been together for a few years, longer if you count our high school years. I have never stopped loving you, even after all those years apart and married to other people until we finally came back together. We love each other's kids and they get along, too, which is a miracle! You're supportive of me and I'm supportive of you. I am scared shitless right now, more scared than your father, actually. But, anyway, I love you so much. Donna Jo Tanner-Fuller, will you marry me?"

Partway through the speech, he had gotten onto one knee. D.J.'s hands covered her mouth and tears rained down her face. She was so shocked that she stared for a few moments at the beautiful ring that he held in his hands.

"Deej?" Steve prompted. "Kinda need an answer here…"

"Oh, sorry!" D.J. said. "Yes, yes, of course, a thousand times yes!"

She fell into his arms and they kissed passionately. He slipped the ring onto her left hand ring finger. As they broke apart she smiled at him hugely. She had wanted this since they first time they had been dating.

They had to call the group to celebrate that they were engaged. The kids were happy that their parents were happy, and they truly loved each other, too. They called all their friends and family, who were happy that Steve and D.J. had finally gotten the person that they belonged with after two decades. Everyone all around was happy about the engagement.

And D.J. and Steve "celebrated" all night long.


	15. Wedding Day

A year later, D.J. stood behind the closed doors in a white dress, her father's arm linked in hers at her second wedding.

"Dad?" D.J. asked.

"Yeah, Deej?" Danny responded.

"How's the second time walking down the aisle?"

"Well, D.J., it's nerve wracking. You've already gone down it once, and you've found yourself in the same position a second time. If it's a divorce, you're wondering if it's going to work out this time, and if your first spouse left you widowed, you may feel like you're betraying them by marrying another, no matter how much they wanted you to move on. I don't think walking down the aisle will ever be not nerve wracking. Now, walking your daughter down the aisle a second time is heart breaking. Because this time you've already given her away once to somebody. And now, you have to give her away again because the first time may not have worked out or her spouse has died."

"So, no matter if I walked down the aisle again or not, it won't get easier?"

"D.J., giving away your daughter is never easy. It'll always be harder, giving her away each time."

"Is it hard right now?"

Danny took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, yeah. I never wanted to walk you down the aisle a second time, cause I knew Tommy was gonna be it when you married him. But then when he died and Steve came along, I knew he was gonna be the one you married again. So, basically it's only a little bit easier because I've known the guy for a long time. You guys dated in high school. Everybody thought you two were gonna get married. It took a long time, three kids and a lot of heartbreak, but here we are," he said.

D.J. smiled and kissed her father on the cheek.

"Love you, Daddy."

"Love you too, Deej," Danny said.

The bride's music started playing and Donna Jo Tanner took a deep breath and sighed, shaking out her nerves a little before the big doors of the church opened and there, at the end of the aisle, stood Steve Hale in his tuxedo, with his two soon-to-be-stepsons by his side.

D.J. held the bouquet of flowers in one hand while her father had the other and started walking to the beat, her eyes never leaving Steve's. She had tears in her eyes, and was slightly shaking, looking at her first love, happiness overflowing her heart as she was just about to marry him.

D.J. was so lost in her thoughts and her memories of them in high school she didn't even realize she and Danny were at the end of aisle until the priest said, "Who gives this woman to this man?"

"I do," Danny said.

"Then let's begin."

Danny lifted her veil and kissed her on the forehead as Steve held her hand and brought her to stand across from him, making Danny sit with his wife in the front row.

When it came time to do vows, D.J. and Steve had decided to write their own. Steve went first.

"Deej, we've been waiting a long time for this. Well, I have. I knew as soon as I saw you again in that grocery store that I had to make you mine again. Friends was good, great even, but nothing could compare to actually being with you in the way I had wanted for years. And now, here you are, standing in front of me after years being together, living together, looking after each other's kids, and everything else that has made us this couple in the years past. I can't believe we're here right now, and I don't think I'd rather be with anyone else at this moment," Steve said.

D.J. had tears in her eyes as she listened to his speech. It was heartwarming and beautiful and had all the girls in the audience near tears.

"D.J.?" the priest prompted.

D.J. nodded and said, "I've been here, before, everybody knows that. I never imagined I would be, I never wanted to be up here again. But, Steve, you changed everything about that for me. I'll admit, at first I didn't want to fall for you again. The times we broke up were awful and hurt, and I didn't want to go through that again. But then we gave it a shot, and we're been through the worst and the best. You've even been there since T.J.'s birth. And today, I don't think I've ever been happier."

The kids looked upon their parents. They loved their new stepparent. They had been living with them for years and now their stepsiblings actually felt like siblings. As D.J. pulled Jasmine next to her from behind her and Steve took his three stepsons' hands and pulled them forward, the four smiled at each other.

"Today, we become a family," Steve said.

"The five of us," D.J. continued.

"And even though we may not like each other at times, and even though it's taken a lot to actually be here, we will always be here for each other. Because we're a family. We're finally a family."

The kids looked at their respective parents and then their stepparent.

"Yeah," Jasmine agreed. "We're finally a family."

And with the "I do"'s said and the exchanging of the rings happening, the priest announced, "I know pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Steve and D.J. kissed, sealing their love forever.

And as D.J. sat at the Head Table at the reception, looking out at their friends and family talk and laugh and congratulate them, she knew that what her father had said before the walk down the aisle was right.

It had taken them a long time to get here, a place where D.J. never thought she'd be again, but here they were, happy, and Donna Jo Hale didn't think she'd have it any other way.


End file.
